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People live with skin tags for years. Then they mention one at the end of an appointment, almost as an apology, while putting their coat on.
They are harmless. That is why they get ignored, and it is also why nobody ever explains them properly.
A skin tag is a small, soft piece of skin that grows out on a narrow stalk. It is made of the same stuff as the rest of your skin. It is not a growth in the sense people worry about.
They turn up where skin rubs against skin or against clothing. The neck, the underarms, the eyelids, under the bust, the groin. Where one appears tells us most of what we need.
They are common, they tend to appear in families, and they appear more with age. Some people get one. Some people get dozens.
Friction is the main one. Skin tags form where skin moves against skin over and over. That is why the list of usual spots is a list of places that rub.
They also show up more during pregnancy and more with weight gain, both of which come back to hormones and to more skin contact.
None of that means you did anything wrong. They are not caused by poor hygiene and they are not contagious.
Most of the time, leave it.
Take a skin tag that has been the same size and colour for years, in a spot that does not catch on anything. If it does not bother you, it is not a problem.
Removing it is a cosmetic choice, and there is nothing medically wrong with deciding against it. We would sooner tell you that than remove something you were fine with.
There are three good reasons, and they are all practical.
and a sore one bleeds and heals and gets caught again.
constant low level annoyance.
will ask you for one.
What is not a reason: worry that it is turning into something. If that is the worry, the answer is to have it looked at, not to have it removed.
This is the most important part of the article, and it is short.
Have a spot looked at before anything is done to it if it is doing any of these.
Several harmless things look like skin tags, and a small number of things that are not harmless can too. The narrow stalk is the most useful feature. Skin tags hang, and most of the things worth checking do not.
This is not a reason to panic about a spot you have had for a decade. It is a reason to have it looked at by someone before it is removed, because once a spot is gone it cannot be examined.
The internet is full of home removal advice. Strings, clippers, freezing kits, oils.
We recommend none of it, for two boring reasons.
First, doing it yourself hurts more than having it done, and it is more likely to leave a mark. Second, it removes the spot without anyone having looked at it.
If it was not a skin tag, you have just thrown away the only evidence.
Short. Most of it is looking.
We check the spot and confirm it is what you think it is. We look at anything else you want checked while you are here. People almost always have a second one they had forgotten about.
If it is straightforward, removal is a small in office procedure, usually the same visit. If anything about it does not look routine, we say so and refer it instead of removing it.
Small, and dull, which is what you want.
There is usually a tiny scab that lifts on its own over the following days. Clean and dry for the first day, then leave it alone.
Do not pick the scab. Picking is what turns a mark that would have vanished into a permanent one.
Spots in high friction areas take a little longer, because the friction has not gone away.
If you have been meaning to ask about one for a while, that is the whole threshold. You do not need it to be a problem first.
Our skin tag removal in London, Ontario page covers what the visit involves and what to expect afterwards.
Stay informed with expert insights, treatment guides, and the latest developments in medical aesthetics from Nurse Practitioner Belita Savage.
